‘The Originals’ Review: Hell Hath No Fury like a Mikaelson

Last night, The Originals returned from hiatus and proceeded to break our Mikaelson family-loving hearts with “Long Way Back from Hell.”

Nothing has been easy for Rebekah, Elijah and Klaus since they came to New Orleans (or since they were turned into vampires), but this week’s episode seemed to leave the family more fractured than ever. Elijah choosing to save Hayley (and Baby Mikaelson) over his siblings in the previous episode suddenly feels like a very minor grievance after the horror at the sanatorium.

Before we get into the family business, let’s talk about the witches. These women are out for vengeance and as much as it sucks to see them carrying out their revenge on our favorite vampires, it’s not like we can completely blame them for being mad. Celeste died because of Klaus and then in 1919, she died in another body because Rebekah infected her with a disgusting deadly virus.

That was bad, but not as terrible as what she did to Genevieve. Rebekah befriended the sweet witch when they were both working as nurses (still laughing at Rebekah working) and then she convinced Genevieve to do a spell to bring Mikael to town. After the witch cast the spell, Rebekah realized her mistake and had to stop her from telling Klaus so she infected her with the virus and let her die with the witch Celeste inhabited at the time.

It’s kind of ironic in a horribly sad way that Rebekah actually had a real friend for once (something she’s been so desperate for since we met her on TVD) and Rebekah was the one to stab her friend in the back (or shove a gross, bloody, diseased rag in her face). Not only that, but Genevieve had a crush on Klaus. He didn’t notice at the time, but he was definitely going to pay attention to the witch in present day.

The witches’ plan was genius. Rebekah had been bitten repeatedly by werewolves so she was suffering from hallucinations, which Genevieve was happily manipulating to bring Rebekah back to her 1919 state of mind. Klaus was out of it because of the dagger buried inside of him so Genevieve pulled that out, made him drink some of Rebekah’s werewolf laced blood and then connected their minds together so Klaus could see everything Rebekah was seeing.

At first, Klaus was not amused that the witch would dare to suggest that Rebekah would ever plot against him. But Klaus watched his sister’s betrayal as it happened and heartbreaking is not a strong enough word to describe how it felt to watch this play out. Not only was Joseph Morgan hitting all the right notes, but so was Claire Holt as she alternated between seeing frightening images and reliving her past that she’d rather forget.

While the two younger siblings were going through hell, Elijah was bringing pain to anyone who got in his way, which was awesome because is there anything better than BAMF Elijah? Yes, there is…Shirtless Elijah. After Elijah roughed up some people at Sophie’s funeral (totally forgot she died until that point RIP), Monique put a spell on Elijah’s skin that she told him would help him find his siblings. He headed back to the compound, ordered Marcel to grab some paper and then called for Hayley as he proceeded to take off his shirt.

The ‘map’ was actually the names of all the witches that Celeste lived in over the years so Elijah and Marcel set out to track them down and figure out the pattern. As usual, things were tense between the two. Elijah checked in with Hayley while he was out (you didn’t really think I’d skip a shipper moment, did you?) and she felt guilty that he was doing all of this because he’d saved her. He reminded her that she would have died in that fire along with his brother’s unborn baby.

Hayley also mentioned the werewolf clan and one of the witches was a Deveraux. It turned out that she and Marcel had a thing (he’s really working his way through that family) and she cursed the werewolves as a favor to him. It also turned out that all the witches died via suicide except the one who died from influenza. Marcel suddenly got cagey and Elijah noticed so Marcel had to confess the truth about what he and Rebekah had done. Elijah was not amused and was ready to tear his head off, but Marcel reminded him that he loved Rebekah and he wanted a chance at happiness with her…something they couldn’t have with Klaus around.

Marcel made it clear that Elijah should know what that was like (fair point) and Elijah relaxed his death grip on him. The two headed for the sanitarium and split up once they got there, starting on opposite sides to find Rebekah and Klaus. Celeste was on her way out and Hayley came up behind her and knocked her out! Another BAMF move and it’s going to be fun to see the showdown coming between these two women.

Now it’s time to get back to Klaus and Rebekah. Genevieve let Klaus drink some of her blood to get his strength up and then she let him loose (this seems like a good time to talk about their chemistry. YES, PLEASE. They’re both twisted and creepy in the best way and if they don’t hook up at least once, I’m going to be really disappointed. Klaus could have killed her, but he didn’t. Take advantage of that, show).

Once he started roaming the halls with the scary blade in his hand, it was once again time for Morgan and Holt to do their thing. These two are powerhouses. They each went through so many emotions as they ran through the halls. Rebekah was terrified, injured and remorseful. Klaus was angry, hurt and out for blood. But that was just on the surface. These two have known each other better than anyone for 1,000 years so they know exactly which buttons to push for maximum pain. Rebekah stopped running because she knew Klaus enjoyed the chase. Klaus threw her mistakes in her face. And then they physically started throwing each other around. It was hard to watch, but in the best way because it was so captivating.

Marcel found them and Klaus momentarily turned his wrath on him. He wanted Rebekah to watch him die before he stabbed her so she could feel pain like she never had before. But again, she fought back. Klaus got the upper hand and he was prepared to plunge the knife into his sister, except Elijah got there first and stabbed Klaus with it. WHOA. He ordered Marcel to take Rebekah and run as fast and as far as they could and then he held his brother in his arms, the knife half buried in his chest.

This one hurt a lot. It’s hard to see these characters that love each other so much turn against one another so fiercely. Klaus is already out for Rebekah and Marcel’s blood and now he’s going to be angry at Elijah too. But it was the right choice to make. There was no other way to stop Klaus from doing something he’d never be able to take back. And next week’s episode doesn’t look like it’s going to be any better for the siblings (seriously, every time Klaus shouts Rebekah’s name, it gives me chills).

Even though this episode wasn’t quite as good as the three that we got before the break, it was still a great hour of television. The stakes continue to get higher and I love that the writers aren’t afraid to take away all hope. Watching this episode was depressing because I hate seeing the Mikaelson siblings in so much pain, but the acting, the story and the visuals made it worth it.

What did you guys think? Did the sanitarium setting freak you out? Were you happy Elijah finally saved Rebekah from one of Klaus’ fits? Did you feel the Klaus/Genevieve ship setting sail? Will Klaus recover from the latest betrayal? Hit the comments and share your thoughts with us!